Blood Sugar Level Ranges

Blood glucose ranges for adults and children differ slightly

Understanding blood glucose level ranges can be a key part of diabetes self-management.
This page states 'normal' blood sugar ranges and blood sugar ranges for adults and children
with type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes and blood sugar ranges to determine people with diabetes.
If a person with diabetes has a meter, test strips and is testing, it's important to know what the blood
glucose level means.
Recommended blood glucose levels have a degree of interpretation for every individual and you
should discuss this with your healthcare team.
In addition, women may be set target blood sugar levels during pregnancy.
The following ranges are guidelines provided by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE)
but each individuals target range should be agreed by their doctor or diabetic consultant.

Recommended target blood glucose level ranges

The NICE recommended target blood glucose levels are stated below for adults with type 1
diabetes, type 2 diabetes and children with type 1 diabetes.
In addition, the International Diabetes Federation's target ranges for people without diabetes is
stated. [19] [89] [90]
The table provides general guidance. An individual target set by your healthcare team is the one you
should aim for.
NICE recommended target blood glucose level ranges

Before meals
(pre prandial)

At least 90 minutes after

meals
(post prandial)

Non-diabetic*

4.0 to 5.9 mmol/L

under 7.8 mmol/L

Type 2 diabetes

4 to 7 mmol/L

under 8.5 mmol/L

Target Levels
by Type

Upon
waking

NICE recommended target blood glucose level ranges

Target Levels
by Type

Upon
waking

Before meals
(pre prandial)

At least 90 minutes after

meals
(post prandial)

Type 1 diabetes

5 to 7 mmol/L

4 to 7 mmol/L

5 to 9 mmol/L

Children w/ type 1
diabetes

4 to 7 mmol/L

4 to 7 mmol/L

5 to 9 mmol/L

*The non-diabetic figures are provided for information but are not part of NICE guidelines.

Normal and diabetic blood sugar ranges

For the majority of healthy individuals, normal blood sugar levels are as follows:

Between 4.0 to 6.0 mmol/L (72 to 108 mg/dL) when fasting

Up to 7.8 mmol/L (140 mg/dL) 2 hours after eating
For people with diabetes, blood sugar level targets are as follows:

Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/L for people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes

After meals: under 9 mmol/L for people with type 1 diabetes and under 8.5mmol/L for
people with type 2 diabetes

Blood sugar levels in diagnosing diabetes

The following table lays out criteria for diagnoses of diabetes and prediabetes.
Blood sugar levels in diagnosing diabetes

Plasma glucose
test

Normal

Prediabetes

Diabetes

Random

Below 11.1 mmol/l

Below 200 mg/dl

N/A

11.1 mmol/l or more

200 mg/dl or more

Fasting

Below 6.1 mmol/l

Below 108 mg/dl

6.1 to 6.9 mmol/l

108 to 125 mg/dl

7.0 mmol/l or more

126 mg/dl or more

2 hour post-prandial

Below 7.8 mmol/l

Below 140 mg/dl

7.8 to 11.0 mmol/l

140 to 199 mg/dl

11.1 mmol/l or more

200 mg/dl or more

Random plasma glucose test

A blood sample for a random plasma glucose test can be taken at any time. This doesnt require as
much planning and is therefore used in the diagnosis of type 1 diabetes when time is of the essence.

Fasting plasma glucose test

A fasting plasma glucose test is taken after at least eight hours of fasting and is therefore usually
taken in the morning.
The NICE guidelines regard a fasting plasma glucose result of 5.5 mmol/l as putting someone at
higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, particularly when accompanied by other risk factors for
type 2 diabetes.

Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT)

An oral glucose tolerance test involves taking a first taking a fasting sample of blood and then taking
a very sweet drink containing 75g of glucose.
After having this drink you need to stay at rest until a further blood sample is taken after 2 hours.

HbA1c test for diabetes diagnosis

An HbA1c test does not directly measure the level of blood glucose, however, the result of the test is
influenced by how high or low your blood glucose levels have tended to be over a period of 2 to 3
months.
Indications of diabetes or prediabetes are given under the following conditions:

Normal: Below 42 mmol/mol (6.0%)

Prediabetes: 42 to 47 mmol/mol (6.0 to 6.4%)
Diabetes: 48 mmol/mol (6.5% or over)

Cholesterol Levels: What You Need to Know

Past Issues / Summer 2012 Table of Contents

Measuring Cholesterol Levels

Learn more at MedlinePlus:
https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/cholesterol.html
Everyone age 20 and older should have his or her cholesterol measured at least once every five years. A
blood test called a lipoprotein panel can help show whether you're at risk for coronary heart disease by
looking at substances in your blood that carry cholesterol. This blood test is done after a 9-to-12-hour fast
(no eating) and gives information about your:

Total cholesterola measure of the total amount of cholesterol in your blood, including lowdensity lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.

LDL (bad) cholesterolthe main source of cholesterol buildup and blockage in the arteries

HDL (good) cholesterolHDL helps remove cholesterol from your arteries

Triglyceridesanother form of fat in your blood that can raise your risk for heart disease

Risk Factors
Major Risk Factors That Affect Your LDL Goal

Cigarette smoking

High blood pressure (140/90 mmHg or higher or on blood pressure medication)

Low HDL cholesterol (less than 40 mg/dL)

Family history of early heart disease (heart disease in father or brother before age 55; heart
disease in mother or sister before age 65)

Age (men 45 years or older; women 55 years or older)

See how your cholesterol numbers compare to the table below:

Total Cholesterol Level

Category

Less than 200mg/dL

Desirable

200-239 mg/dL

Borderline high

240mg/dL and above

High

LDL (Bad) Cholesterol Level

LDL Cholesterol Category

Less than 100mg/dL

Optimal

100-129mg/dL

Near optimal/above optimal

130-159 mg/dL

Borderline high

160-189 mg/dL

High

190 mg/dL and above

Very High

HDL (Good) Cholesterol Level

HDL Cholesterol Category

Less than 40 mg/dL

A major risk factor for heart disease

4059 mg/dL

The higher, the better

60 mg/dL and higher

Considered protective against heart disease

Source: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

What Affects Cholesterol Levels?

A variety of things can affect cholesterol levels. These are things you can do something about:

Diet. Saturated fat and cholesterol in the food you eat make your blood cholesterol level rise.
Saturated fat is the main problem, but cholesterol in foods also matters. Reducing the amount of
saturated fat and cholesterol in your diet helps lower your blood cholesterol level.

Weight. Being overweight is a risk factor for heart disease. It also tends to increase your
cholesterol. Losing weight can help lower your LDL and total cholesterol levels, as well as raise your HDL
and lower your triglyceride levels.

Physical Activity. Not being physically active is a risk factor for heart disease. Regular physical
activity can help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and raise HDL (good) cholesterol levels. It also helps you
lose weight. You should aim to be physically active for 30 minutes on most, if not all, days.
Things outside of your control that also can affect cholesterol levels include:

Age and Gender. As women and men get older, their cholesterol levels rise. Before the age of
menopause, women have lower total cholesterol levels than men of the same age. After the age of
menopause, women's LDL levels tend to rise.

Heredity. Your genes partly determine how much cholesterol your body makes. High blood
cholesterol can run in families.

Lowering Cholesterol Using Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC)

TLC is a set of lifestyle changes you can make to help lower your LDL cholesterol. The main parts of TLC
are:

The TLC Diet. The TLC Diet. This is a low-saturated-fat, low-cholesterol eating plan that calls for
less than 7 percent of calories from saturated fat and less than 200mg of dietary cholesterol per day. The
TLC diet encourages you to choose a variety of nutritious and tasty foods. Choose fruits, vegetables,
whole grains, low-fat or nonfat dairy products, fish, poultry without the skin, and, in moderate amounts,
lean meats. The TLC diet recommends only enough calories to maintain a desirable weight and avoid
weight gain. If LDL is not lowered enough by reducing saturated fat and cholesterol intake, the amount of
soluble fiber in your diet can be increased. Certain food products that contain naturally occurring
substances found in some plants (for example, cholesterol-lowering margarines) can also be added to the
TLC diet to boost its LDL-lowering power. More information on the TLC diet is available in the Your Guide
to Lowering Your Cholesterol with TLC (www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/chol/chol_tlc.pdf).

Weight Management. Losing weight if you are overweight can help lower LDL and is especially
important for those with a cluster of risk factors that includes high triglyceride and/or low HDL levels and
being overweight with a large waist measurement (more than 40 inches for men and more than 35 inches
for women).

Physical Activity. Regular physical activity (30 minutes on most, if not all, days) is recommended
for everyone.

Drug Treatment. Even if you begin drug treatment to lower your cholesterol, you will need to
continue your treatment with lifestyle changes. This will keep the dose of medicine as low as possible,
and lower your risk in other ways as well. There are several types of cholesterol-lowering drugs available,
including:

Statins, which block the liver from making cholesterol

Bile acid sequestrants, which decrease the amount of fat absorbed from food

Cholesterol absorption inhibitors, which decrease the amount of cholesterol absorbed

from food and lower triglycerides

Vitamins and supplementsNiacin, which blocks the liver from removing HDL and lowers
triglycerides, and omega-3 fatty acids, which increase the level of HDL and lowers triglycerides

Your healthcare provider can help decide which type of drug is best for you.

Uric acid - blood

Uric acid is a chemical created when the body breaks down substances called purines.
Purines are found in some foods and drinks. These include liver, anchovies, mackerel,
dried beans and peas, and beer.
Most uric acid dissolves in blood and travels to the kidneys. From there, it passes out in
urine. If your body produces too much uric acid or does not remove enough if it, you can
get sick. A high level of uric acid in the blood is called hyperuricemia.
This test checks to see how much uric acid you have in your blood. Another test can be
used to check the level of uric acid in your urine.

How the Test is Performed

A blood sample is needed. Most of the time blood is drawn from a vein located on the
inside of the elbow or the back of the hand.

How to Prepare for the Test

You should not eat or drink anything for 4 hours before the test unless told otherwise.

Many medicines can interfere with blood test results.

Your health care provider will tell you if you need to stop taking any medicines
before you have this test.

DO NOT stop or change your medicines without talking to your provider first.
Your provider may also tell you to stop taking any drugs that may affect the test results.
Never stop taking any medicine without talking to your provider.

Why the Test is Performed

This test is done to see if you have high levels of uric acid in your blood. High levels of
uric acid can sometimes cause gout or kidney disease.
You may have this test if you have had or are about to have certain types of
chemotherapy. Rapid weight loss, which may occur with such treatments, can increase
the amount of uric acid in your blood.

Normal Results
Normal values range between 3.5 and 7.2 mg/dL.
Normal value ranges may vary slightly among different laboratories. Talk to your
provider about the meaning of your specific test results.
The example above shows the common measurement range for results for these tests.
Some laboratories use different measurements or may test different specimens.

What Abnormal Results Mean

Greater-than-normal levels of uric acid (hyperuricemia) may be due to:

Acidosis
Alcoholism
Chemotherapy-related side effects

Diabetes
Excessive exercise

Gout

Hypoparathyroidism
Lead poisoning

Leukemia

Medullary cystic kidney disease

Nephrolithiasis
Polycythemia vera
Purine-rich diet

Renal failure
Toxemia of pregnancy
Lower-than-normal levels of uric acid may be due to:

Fanconi syndrome
Low purine diet

Syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone (SIADH) secretion

Wilson disease
Other reasons this test may be performed include:

Chronic gouty arthritis

Chronic kidney disease

Injury of the kidney and ureter

References
Edwards NL. Crystal deposition diseases. In: Goldman L, Schafer AI, eds. Goldman-Cecil
Medicine. 25th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders; 2016:chap 273.